One of the weirdest, wildest albums Caetano Veloso ever recorded – a highly experimental session that shows that his ties with the avant art world were still plenty strong on his return to Brazil! Despite a goofy cheeseball photo of Veloso on the cover in a bikini, the sound on this one is waaaaay out – with weird avant garde vocal bits, choppy instrumentation, and wild shifts in style that make his Tropicalia albums almost seem like pop hits! As usual, Caetano's vocals are superb, especially as he slides from experimental tunes into straighter songs – like the title cut "Araca Azul", and Milton Nascimento's "Cravo E Canela". Proof that the Brazilian intelligentsia was still alive and well in the post-Tropicalia years – with other titles that include "De Palavar Em Palavra", "Julia/Moreno", "Epico", "Viola Meu Bem", "De Conversa", and "Sugarcane Fields Forever". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Maria Bethania's first albums, and a beautiful set of live recordings – with a vibe that's a lot more uptempo and swinging than some of her later work! The style here almost has traces of bossa – a lighter, groovier feel at times than some of the more emotive modes that Bethania became known for during her run of 70s MPB. Backing here is by the bossa-esque Terra Trio, and they accompany her deep rich voice nicely on tracks like "Marina", "Carinhoso", "Marginalia II", "Ele Valava Nisso Todo Dia", and a great version of Caetano Veloso's "Baby". Very cool cover, too – with a trippy painting that has Maria's nude torso covered with flowers and bugs! LP, Vinyl record album

Classic level psych pop pastiche from The Paperhead – a young Nashville core trio (and just a little over a handful of studio collaborators) with an incredible ability to channel the coolest sounds of the late 60s-late 70s into a transcendently catchy sound of their own! We don't even know where to start in trying to describe the stylistic range – maybe we'd just start by saying the songs, one after another, are as solidly tuneful and accessible as their influences are far out and diverse – incredibly so on both front! They've got strains of both obscure and uberclassic psychedelia from early/Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, to late 60s psychedelic soul, to Byrds-y psych country, and well beyond. Arrangements-wise the songs all have tight core groove, and additional horns and strings when duty calls. Another proud Dusty Groove salute to Chicago's Trouble In Mind label for discovering and releasing such great stuff! Includes "The True Poet", "Pig", "Love You To Death", "Fairy Tales", "Porter's Fiddle", "Reincarnated", "Over And Over", "Little Lou", "Duly Noted", "Dama De Lavanda" and "Chew". LP, Vinyl record album

Chicago Soul/New York Underground issue. Songwriter/manager Bernice Williams recalls the early days of Gene Chandler/The Du-Kays, and the true story of "Duke of Earl"; Northern Soul legends the Conquistadors tell tales of 1960s West Side Chicago teenage R&B (plus the first soul Jesus concept album); Do "The Chimp" with Chicago 60s garage rocker/R&B singer Jerry Mundo; H. Dwight Thompson tells tales of 70s NYC punk with the Heat and Klaus Nomi's first band! Relive the early Hip Hop parties of the Disco Fever nightclub; Nardwuar meets Jay-Z and N*E*R*D*; plus great interviews with Chris Montez and Doug Randle, and amazing tributes (by those who knew them) to Lux Interior, Michael Jackson, Billy Lee Riley, Sid Lavarents, Sky Saxon and (sadly) more. And amazing comix about Lennon, Danzig, Hagar, record store clerks, hot dogs, riots, and much more by the best underground cartoonists on earth! 120 pages. Magazine

Includes remixes by Modaji, Coldcut, J Flava, and Restless Soul. CD

Jazzman take on the Cali scene – and the results are every bit as amazing as you might imagine! Like previous Texas, Florida, and Midwest Funk comps on the label, this volume is essential listening all the way through – a massive dig into rare west coast grooves of the late 60s and 1970s – presented with excellent notes on every single track, and more than enough historical detail to put the music in perspective! The whole thing's fully legit, with great mastering on most cuts – and the track list is filled with rare gems we've never seen on any other collections before – a massive funky treasure trove that includes "Turn It Over" by Chucky Thurmon, "Farm Song" by Leon Gardner, "What Goes Around Comes Around (part 1)" by Arthur Monday, "Get It Right" by Rhon Silva, "Funky Fire" by Billy Larkin, "WB" by California Gold Notes, "Curse Upon The World" by Apple & The Three Oranges, "Cold Heat" by Lil Lavair & The Fabulous Jades, "Bones" by Winter, "Smokin Tidbits" by Edwards Generation, "Al's Place" by Enrique Olivarez Y Los Vampiros, "Talking About My Baby" by John Heartsman & Circles, "What's Going On" by Mr Clean & The Soul Inc, and "All Bundled Into One" by Water Color. LP, Vinyl record album

A guided tour of one of the grooviest club labels ever – all at the hands of the legendary Kenny Dope! This limited edition 2LP set features all the unmixed tracks that appeared on the 2CD set – a batch of killer club tracks from one of the most legendary string of labels on the 70s east coast scene. Package includes 13 numbers in all, 4 of which have never been reissued, and others of which are presented here in rare edits for the set! Titles include "Dance Dance Dance" by Martin Acuna, "African Rock" by Licky, "Dance To The Beat Freakout" by Wayne Ford, "Roller Rink Funk" by Shift, "Got To Get Your Love (Kenny Dope edit)" by Clyde Alexander & Sanction, "Dance Freak" by Chain Reaction, "Feel The Spirit (re-work)" by Foster Jackson Group, "It's So Good To Know" by Best Friend Around, "Game Of Life (re-edit)" by Lavaba & E Mallison, "The Groove I'm In" by Florence Miller, and "Shout At The Disco" by Little Scotty. LP, Vinyl record album

Rare soul galore – a set of heavenly harmony tracks from those years when a mellow cut on a 45 single was a perfect way to drift into the small hours of the evening! The music here is all pretty darn obscure, and as with previous volumes, the vibe is somewhere between the sweet soul sound of the New Jersey/Philly scene, and the kind of laidback tracks that always played big on the scene in East LA. Almost all of these tracks are new to our ears – and titles include "Love Don't Change" by Laurene Lavallis, "Crying Baby Won't Help The Hurt" by The Si-Berians, "How Far Can Our Love Go" by Delbert & The Stewart Sensation, "Cindy" by Taste Of Love", "Making Love" by The 5 Stepping Stars, "Phases Of Time" by Joe Jama, "O Lord" by The Invaders, and "What Am I To Do" by Soul Suspension. LP, Vinyl record album

One of Maria Bethania's first albums, and a beautiful set of live recordings – with a vibe that's a lot more uptempo and swinging than some of her later work! The style here almost has traces of bossa – a lighter, groovier feel at times than some of the more emotive modes that Bethania became known for during her run of 70s MPB. Backing here is by the bossa-esque Terra Trio, and they accompany her deep rich voice nicely on tracks like "Marina", "Carinhoso", "Marginalia II", "Ele Valava Nisso Todo Dia", and a great version of Caetano Veloso's "Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Shorty Rogers is definitely way up there with this classic album for Atlantic Records – hitting heights that even go beyond his more famous sides for RCA! The groove here is sharp, but also has room for lots of individual flavors too – thanks to different groupings of west coast players who include Bud Shank on alto, Jimmy Giuffre on baritone and tenor, Lou Levy on piano, Shelly Manne on drums, Barney Kessel on guitar, and Pete Candoli, Conte Candoli, Harry Edison, and Don Fagerquist on trumpets! Shorty himself wrote nearly all the tracks on the set – at a point at which he was really hitting his stride as a composer, doing an incredible job of mixing modern ideas and swinging jazz – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Pixieland", "Solarization", "Baklava Bridge", "March Of The Martians", "Moten Swing", and "Wail Of Two Cities". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the wildest albums ever recorded by sitar genius Ravi Shankar – a set done for the Dark Horse label of George Harrison – who also plays guitar and autoharp on the record too! Yet Harrison is just one of many friends hinted at in the title – as Shankar brings in a host of other Indian musicians and singers – including vocalist Lakshmi Shankar, tabla player Alla Rakha, and violinist L Subramanian – next to work from more familiar LA musicians who include Billy Preston on organ, Emil Richards on percussion, Paul Beaver on moog, and Tom Scott on saxes and flute! The result is a majestic LA flowering of ideas that Shankar first showed the world many years before – all filtered through the imagination of George Harrison, who supported Ravi often over the years, and brought his creative genius to a much larger audience. Titles include the long "Dream Nightmare & Dawn" suite – plus "I Am Missing You"," Jaya Jagadish Hare", and "Kahan Gayelava Shyam Salone". LP, Vinyl record album